Are any of you out there getting tired of cell phone addiction? It’s plagued me for a while and I’ve noticed how it affects my relationships with family and friends and to be quite honest, I hate what phones can do (and have done) to real, in-person relationships. I catch myself in the middle of a conversation wanting to look down at my phone or Google something or just scroll social media. I don’t even know if despise is a strong enough word for how that makes me feel. I would love to go back to my first Motorola StarTac. And yet, I love my new Samsung S25 Ultra, too.
I wonder if a lot of us find ourselves in that same conflict of loving the thing we hate? Or needing the thing we don’t actually need. In my case, lack of will-power is part of it, for sure. Well, the good news is that there are solutions and even though I love the S25 Ultra for a handful of reasons, I don’t want to be ruled by it. One way people are disconnecting from phone addiction is by using “dumb phones.” These are modern phones that are designed to behave like the old StarTacs and Nokias from the early 2000s. Basic texting and calls, along with a handful of useful apps like maps and internet but without the more addicting ones (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, games, etc).
If that interests you, look up the Nokia 2780 Flip and the Light Phone III. I briefly looked at those but I can’t quite take the leap yet. There are a few reasons I want to hang on to a modern smartphone… for now. So what’s an option for someone who wants to have a dumb phone but needs the conveniences of a smartphone? There IS still hope for us in those cases. 🤪 To regurgitate an old slogan, there’s an app for that.
Apps like Zen Detox and Minimalist Phone can turn your smartphone into something like a dumb phone. The apps strip down the phone into boring, colorless screens that aren’t appealing… which is the point. I tried Zen Detox and loved the layout. A simple background with app text instead of icons.
After using it for a few days and looking up more about how to untether myself from my phone, I think colors play a big part of what draws me in. Bright app icons, colorful texting bubbles, dazzling headlines, all designed to keep me looking at my screen.
Zen Detox wasn’t quite a fit so I did more research. I found a video about one cool feature on the S25 Ultra. Most phones probably have something similar, the S25 calls it color correction. In settings / accessibility / vision enhancements / color correction, a simple touch of the screen will turn color correction ON; then go down to “grayscale” to turn the all phone media and screens to black and white.
I’ve had my phone like this for about a week, still opting back to a color screen when needed (camera viewing, texting pictures to family and friends, etc) and even though I still feel the familiar desire to check my phone, having it in grayscale has definitely reduced the desire from “incessant” to “I can bear a few minutes without my phone.”
I’ve also noticed that when I’m using social media apps (Facebook is the one I’m on the most), a colorless screen has changed everything. I barely scroll at all because the bright colors aren’t drawing me in. I highly recommend trying this option if you don’t go the route of a dedicated dumb phone app.
Are you considering a conscious effort to detach from your phone? What has or hasn’t worked for you? Comment below!
-Out of the Wilderness
Out of the Wilderness 